Surprise Grace On My Birthday

Today I celebrate my birthday with a positive blog post and
I also celebrate God’s faithfulness throughout my journey in life, yehey! Wow,
I’m in this age almost close to kick myself out of the calendar yet I feel grateful
and excited for more surprises to come! Knowing what God has in store for me, why worry? Of course, I worry sometimes but I'd like to share you something insightful as I hit my new age this morning.

In my previous years I could hardly enjoy when “change of
plans” came along since these also brought me insecurities, discomfort,
distractions and sometimes tears, tiredness, anxiety and frustrations. As
you've just read, yes, I was a very negative person. Believe me, I was terrible on handling all of my negative thoughts, these used to control me. But also because of these diversions
I became better and some of my habits, character, conduct and faith improved as
well. How? By always running to my Maker. For He knows the deepest desires of
my heart and only He can complete me: He offers eternal love and the best life
we can have for now and forever. I always keep coming back to His strong arms and cry for help - a daughter seeking her Father's comfort.

And now I'm so happy to read this devotion from Grace@Work
and I love what Rhoda just cried to God, "Lord, You have always helped me
in my darkest hours. I shouldn’t worry now, should I?" (read full article
below). I thought to myself, "This is exactly what I want to say to the
Lord". Since one of my goal this 2015 is to have a meaningful and stronger
intimacy with the Lord, I practice to talk to Him most of the time, I pray
anywhere. I write my prayers in my journal.

Hardships, fears, sickness, failures, cancellations and even postponements of
some of my dreams and plans are my giants in life but since I know and believe
that God is with me for the longest time and He is ever-present, I ended up
feeling better most of the time. Remember, He is also our hiding place (Psalm 32:7). I'm no King David but I'm the curly daughter of the King of Kings and Lord of lords, I'm special and beloved.

photo found at pinterest via bloglovin

Our pastor Terry Broqueza at God is Sovereign Church-Assemblies of God, also my eldest sister,
taught us that it's a pleasure to serve God. And we must develop a habit of
consulting God always. She always pray, "Lord, let me hear Your
Word". And in quick time, the Lord answers through wisdom and His Word. Of
course, our struggles won't be gone in just a snap but the peace of the Lord will
be with us. And I love feeling that – the assurance that I'm safe as long as
the Lord is holding me and my heart.... that the joy of the Lord is my strength
and He loves me.

And by writing this now... I feel better. Thanks God for He owns me and He wants
me. As numbers of my life continue to increase, I'm happy to gain not just the
pounds (hehe!) and the aging but so my understanding of His will widens as well.
"But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of
man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God
has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even
the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that
person, which is in him?" (Read more at 1 Corinthians 2:6-14).

In some of my previous posts, I already shared the testing
of my faith and patience. It was not really easy to move forward without
holding on to some security but the Word of God teaches us to walk/live by
faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). And by this, I challenge you dear
readers to take a leap of faith and submit to God’s plans. Let God have His way
in every area of your life, you’ll be fine (wink!).

Today I share to you yesterday’s devotion at Grace@Work book
titled “Surprise Grace”. You’re correct; I got the title of my post from here.

Rhoda, a real estate agent, has not made any sale in
months. Despite her frequent follow-ups, prospective clients have not replied;
her SSS loan has been cancelled due to faulty documents; and an uncle who
usually sent dollars had fallen ill.

She cried to God, “Lord, You have always helped me in my
darkest hours. I shouldn’t worry now, should I?”

She worried anyway, thinking of ways to raise the money for
her sons’ tuition fees as she headed home.

“Is that you, Rhoda?” someone tapped her shoulder and
gushed, “Perfect timing! I’ve been trying to find you. My balikbayan aunt wants
to buy three lots in the subdivision in your brochure. You think you can come
to my house to meet her?”

“And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we
also know that he will give us what we ask for.” 1 John 5:15

And here is something from Our Daily Bread 2015 devotional
book, The Best Life by Anne Cetas.

A few months ago, I had to travel to Florida and back on
business. On my flight home, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had a
seat with lots of leg room. It felt so good not to be scrunched into a small
area. Plus, I had an empty seat beside me! The makings of a good nap.

Then I remembered those around me in their
not-as-comfortable seats. I invited several others I knew to join me in a
better spot but was surprised they all wanted to stay in their own seats for
various reasons: They didn’t want to be inconvenienced with a move or felt fine
where they were.

As believers in Christ, we have a much more significant
invitation to extend: We’ve received a new life of faith in Jesus and want
others to experience it too. Some will want to do so, and others won’t. In John
1:40 we read that Andrew had begun to follow Jesus. The first thing Andrew did
was to find his brother Simon and invite him to meet Jesus, the Messiah, too
(v.41). Jesus offered them a wonderful new way of life of knowing Him and
enjoying His promises: His forgiveness (Rom. 3:24), continual presence (Heb.
13:5), hope (Rom. 15:13), peace (John 14:27), and a forever future in His
presence (1 Thess. 4:17).

Won’t you join in? Jesus gives the best life.

If we commit ourselves to Christ

And follow in His way,

He’ll give us life that satisfies

With purpose for each day. —Sper

If you want someone to know what Christ will do for him, let
him see what Christ has done for you.

Bible verse: [Andrew] first found his own brother Simon, and
said to him, “We have found the Messiah.” —John 1:41

And since I celebrate my best life today... here’s an amazing music
from For King & Country, it’s a fun and strong performance, watch the video below.

I love it. So easy to read with its very familiar yet touching story. Truly there's always a battle inside us that was caused by our ugly pasta and that can ruin our future and our loved ones but this book encourage the readers to stick ...

I recommend this book since the author is a very reliable person. I learned so much about developing good habits and improving characters especially when in the workplace. I believe many can relate their situations, battles and burdens w...